2021-02-26 at 09:54:52
Kiyotaka Sueyoshi from University of Szeged
will present ‘New Decorums’: Whitman’s olfactory metaphors in Song of Myself
Abstract
In Song of Myself, especially in sections 1 and 2, olfactory metaphors abound. This employment of olfactory metaphors is connected to Whitman’s language experiment which he calls “new decorums.” This focus on the sense of smell – the lowest sense – signifies the all-inclusive nature of the poem, and helps to initiate readers into the state where our corporeality is forefronted and the harmony between individuality and the whole is possible. Furthermore, Whitman’s olfactory metaphors serve to advance the transcendentalists’ general enterprise to express their ideas, particularly first hand revelations which, according to them, can occur to everyone. Yet, there have been few critical studies on Whitman’s olfactory metaphors in Song of Myself. This paper investigates these metaphors and shows how they are the core to the semantics of the poem.
In section
American Literature